The 1 cent piece is composed of a nickel-brass alloy of 70 percent copper, 24.5 percent zinc, and 5.5 percent nickel, and measures 2 grams in mass, 16.5 millimeters in diameter, and 1.35 millimeters in thickness. It has medallic alignment; raised, undecorated rims; and a plain edge, and is round in shape.

The obverse of the coin was designed by Clara Zacharaki-Georgiou, a Greek-born Cypriot artist. Featured in the center is the coat of arms of Cyprus – which consists of a central escutcheon containing the date "1960" and a dove holding an olive branch in its mouth, enclosed within a wreath of olive branches. On pieces dated 1983 to 1990, the branches of the wreath and escutcheon are large and touch one another, and the dove's features are more defined. On later coins, however, the wreath and escutcheon are considerably smaller and the dove is illustrated with much less detail. Printed next to the arms, extending in a clockwise direction from the coin's lower left to lower right peripheries, is the word "Cyprus" in English, Greek, and Turkish, the three most spoken languages in the island country. Respectively written as "CYPRUS", "ΚΥΠΡΟΣ" (Romanized: Kýpros), and "KIBRIS", the names are separated from each other by small circular points. The Gregorian date of minting occupies the remainder of the coin's boundary. It is inscribed counterclockwise in a smaller font at the bottom of the piece, flanked on both sides by a small circular point. The date is larger on coins minted from 1991 to 2004 than on earlier pieces.

The reverse, also designed by Zacharaki-Georgiou, features in its center a stylized bird facing right and perched on a treebranch. It is based on artwork from a piece of Bichrome ware from the Cypro-Archaic period (700–525 BC). Printed to the lower left is a large numeral "1", which indicates the coin's face value of 1 cent. On coins struck in 1983, the field inside the numeral is raised, whereas on later pieces the field is incuse.

A total of 103,006,250 examples of the coin were minted over 13 years of production, including 103,000,000 pieces with a standard finish and 6,250 proofs. The standard pieces were struck during all 13 years, whereas the proofs were only manufactured in 1983. A small number of standard finish coins were included in mint sets in 1983, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1994, 2004, and 2007, and all of the proofs were placed into proof sets.